Extract 1

Introduction :
In her novella, The Fifth Child, published in 1988, Doris Lessing tells the upheaval of a blissful family after the fifth child, a large, ugly, violent and uncontrollable child, is born. The passage under study is part of the incipit. Indeed, we are presented to the protagonists, the parents David & Harriet Lovatt when they first met at an office party in the 60s (their encounter, their backgrounds => past influencing their future).
Guideline : To what extent their respective backgrounds determine their future life and choices?

I A Romeo and Juliet-like couple
a) The party
 They meet at an office party => they must be colleagues.
 Very noisy : importance of music, everybody dancing.
 Crowded : effect of numbers

b) Love at first sight => everything goes fast
 Love at first sight : “at once” (l.25), “at the same moment” (l. 2/3+4). Everything goes fast.
 Idea of fusion: “together” (l.7) + repetition of “they”, “them” => they are already together.
 Rapidity of the writing: one (long) paragraph about their first encounter, their moving together and their marriage (2 sentences only for the last two events). Short sentences + use of adverbs.

c) From different backgrounds
 Id card : Harriet is a “graphic designer” (l.36) and David is an architect. We can guess they work together. Both live in London.
 Social : David’s family is richer (David and his sisters went to private expensive schools while Harriet went to public schools. David’s dad is a “boat builder” (l.68); his mother-in-law has “the cynicalgood humour of the rich” (l.67). David lived in many houses (his real house with his mother / villa, yacht with his father). David can afford his own flat in London (l.25) while Harriet has “only a room in a big communal flat” (l.24-26)
 Family : Harriet from traditional family (her father is dead) whereas David is part of a reconstituted family : his parents are divorced so he is torn between his “two sets of